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| Great Black-backed Gull |
After what was a far more successful trip to Riverside Nature Park than I could have hoped for, with not just the Golden Plover finally seen but also a bonus Sanderling too, I was determined to get out to Broughty Ferry again. Having been successful with an Arctic Skua sighting the previous Sunday, I wanted to try to add something else. With countless birds in the river, well up past the bridges the previous day, I was optimistic that my weekend luck might just continue and that I might be able to add something else to my #2025Dundee150 list. An early start was planned...
I was a little bit later than intended in getting out, though 0715 is still quite early when sunrise is only a little over an hour before. Being a Sunday, there wouldn't be too many people around on my walk down to Broughty Castle. Herring Gull, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Starling, Feral Pigeon and the first of at least 22 Tree Pipits (as things progressed, some of the total were 'heard only', so may well have been groups of more than 1 - I did see groups of 3 and 6) made for a steady start. Blue Tit, Swift, House Martin and Wren were all noted along Clepington Road as I headed for Swannie Ponds. A Chiffchaff was heard at the ponds, with Coot, Mallard, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Grey Wagtail, Grey Heron, the Mute Swan family and some Black-headed Gulls all noted as well as some of the local House Sparrows and a Carrion Crow or two.
I continued on to Eastern Cemetery where Robin, Goldfinch, Blackbird, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Coal Tit and Goldcrest (as well as a few more Tree Pipits) made for a productive visit. Having just crossed Arbroath Road, a Great Spotted Woodpecker overflew, which was a bit of a surprise. A Mistle Thrush was another. I headed down to the Stannergate where Long-tailed Tits were heard and the day's first Sandwich Terns were picked out over the river, even before I'd reached the end of the docks. As it turned out, there were quite a lot of these terns around, fishing close in to shore as well as further out towards Fife. Their calls provided an almost constant backing track to my walk along to Broughty Ferry.
Dunnock and Pied Wagtail were noted near the small car park while a couple of Cormorants were seen out on the river. The first wader of the day was an Oystercatcher, though Redshank, Turnstone and a slightly unexpected Common Sandpiper were soon added before I'd gone too much further. Common Gull, Curlew and a large White butterfly were found near the sailing club sheds. A Goosander was seen by the pipe at Douglas Terrace and the day's first Swallows swept past upriver near Beach Crescent. I reached the castle area around 0915 and set up the scope. A Fulmar was a bit of a surprise, though the Harbour Porpoise I had brief views of, just offshore, was far more of a surprise - and a first for me in the Tay. A Grey Seal was in the same general area though further out. There were still Tree Pipits passing overhead but a few flocks of Crossbills also headed over westwards.
There was plenty of activity out on and over the river and I managed to add Eider, Great Black-backed Gull and a distant flock of 25 Grey Herons together heading over Tayport. I picked out some Canada Geese on the shore at Tayport before I set off for Balmossie to see what I could find as the tide came in. I detoured in for a look at the local nature reserve where a Sparrowhawk was seen circling above, while a Siskin was heard. A Holly Blue butterfly gave me extended close views in the same area as the Longhorn Moths had been previously, before the habitat destruction by a very entitled nearby resident. Returning to the path by the river, I added an Osprey close in as I wandered along towards Balmossie.
At Balmossie, Jackdaw and Rook were seen down by the burn outflow, while across towards Tentsmuir Point, hundreds of Gannets could be seen fishing. A couple of Ringed Plover, and some Bar-tailed Godwits added to the list of waders seen. A few Linnets showed briefly and a small flock of Wigeon headed upriver. A Shag flew in the opposite direction. A Stock Dove dropped in for a very quick drink before heading back up and over the houses again. A Kittiwake down among the gull roost was a welcome addition before I picked out the day's first Arctic Skua out towards Tentsmuir Point. Scanning through the roosting gulls, I stumbled upon a very welcome Little Gull, my first within Dundee this year (having seen some at Monikie earlier in the year while twitching the White-winged Black Tern).
The incoming tide brought the Little Gull, and the other birds in much closer as time passed. A few Sand Martins headed past. A couple of Common Sandpipers showed up in the burn outflow and another couple of Fulmars were seen around 1410. I found a ringed Black-headed Gull (White 2N59 - ringed in England) before I set off back towards Broughty Castle again. The walk back added more Arctic Skuas - with at least 3 groups of 2, and a singleton seen. Additionally, I managed to get a few Common Terns on the list for the day. The day's first sighting of a few distant Bottlenose Dolphins came around 1550.
A Buzzard was seen off to the north as I passed the rock garden. One of the jack-up rigs was on the move out of the river and as I watched the Terns fishing around the support vessels I found my second new species for my #2025Dundee150 list - an Arctic Tern. I managed to find a Guillemot out around mid-channel as I scanned through all the birds on the river. There were easily thousands of birds as the tide came in - Kittiwakes in their hundreds, Gannets in their hundreds, Terns (mostly Sandwich, but also Common and Arctic), other gulls (including a few Little), Eiders, Goosanders as well as a few Skuas and Auks. I don't recall having ever seen quite as much variety on the Tay all at one time before.
Having already been out for around 10 hours, I still hadn't made it back to the castle, having been distracted multiple times when I'd stopped to scan through more birds out on the river. I found a few Razorbills around 1715 and my final addition was a Collared Dove which took the day's list to a very surprising 70 species (including 2 more new #2025Dundee150 birds - in bold). I suspect that heat shimmer and distance likely meant I missed out on at least 1, maybe 2 or 3, more species. I finally tore myself away from the river and headed homewards via Swannie Ponds (where a ringed Black Headed Gull - green J63P from Norway had returned again) making it home for around 1830, having been birding for 11 and a quarter hours. A very long and tiring day out, but well worth the effort. On the walk home, I actually contemplated taking the Tuesday off work to try again, but managed to talk myself out of it.
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| Cormorant |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Common Sandpiper |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Common Gull |
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| Curlew |
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| Goosander |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Crossbill |
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| Redshank |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Holly Blue |
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| Goldfinch |
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| Osprey |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Wigeon |
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| Swift |
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| Gannet |
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| Stock Dove |
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| Gannet |
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| Bar-tailed Godwit & Black-headed Gull |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Bar-tailed Godwit |
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| Fulmar |
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| Common Sandpiper & Turnstone |
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| Little Gull |
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| Kittiwake |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Skua |
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| Arctic Tern |
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| Arctic Skua |
Birds -Arctic Skua, Arctic Tern, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Goose, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Collared Dove,
Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Coot, Cormorant, Crossbill, Curlew, Dunnock, Eider, Fulmar, Gannet, Goldcrest, Goldfinch, Goosander, Great Black-backed Gull, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Grey Heron,
Grey Wagtail, Guillemot, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow,
Jackdaw, Kittiwake, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Linnet, Little Gull, Long-tailed Tit,
Magpie, Mallard, Mistle Thrush, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Pied Wagtail, Razorbill, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Siskin, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Tree Pipit, Turnstone, Woodpigeon, Wren.
Butterflies - Holly Blue, Large White.
Mammals - Bottlenose Dolphin, Grey Seal, Harbour Porpoise, Rabbit.
